Described herein is a technique capable of shortening the time required to reduce the oxygen concentration in a transfer chamber. According to the technique described herein, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus including: a transfer chamber wherein a substrate from a container is transported; a transfer robot configured to transfer the substrate through the transfer chamber; a purge gas supply mechanism configured to supply a purge gas into the transfer chamber; and a pressure control mechanism configured to control an inner pressure of the transfer chamber wherein the pressure control mechanism is provided at an exhaust channel wherethrough an inner atmosphere of the transfer chamber is exhausted, the pressure control mechanism including: an exhaust damper configured to fully open or fully close the exhaust channel; and an adjusting damper provided in the exhaust damper and configured to maintain the inner pressure of the transfer chamber at predetermined pressure.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
3. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cover member is capable of being elevated to allow the inner atmosphere of the transfer chamber to flow around the cover member.
4. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the back pressure valve is further configured to be elevated to be opened when the inner pressure of the transfer chamber is higher than a predetermined pressure.
5. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the predetermined pressure is adjusted by adjusting a weight of the back pressure valve.
7. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the controller is further configured to open the gate valve when the back pressure valve puts the pressure control mechanism into an open state.
8. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 7, wherein the controller is further configured to open the gate valve when the inner pressure of the standby chamber is higher than that of the transfer chamber.
9. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to close the gate valve when the adjusting damper is in a closed state.
10. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 6, further comprising: a pair of ventilation mechanisms configured to exhaust the inner atmosphere of the transfer chamber, wherein the pair of ventilation mechanisms are provided at left and right sides of a lower portion of the transfer chamber with the transfer robot therebetween.
12. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a detector provided at an upstream side of the pair of cleaning mechanisms and configured to detect an oxygen concentration in the transfer chamber.
13. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to open the gate valve when an oxygen concentration in the standby chamber is lower than the oxygen concentration in the transfer chamber.
15. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the exhaust channel is configured to be closed when the bottom of the cover member is pressed against the lower portion of the pressure control mechanism and the back pressure valve is closed, and the cover member is configured to open the exhaust channel when the bottom of the cover member is detached from the lower portion of the pressure control mechanism.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
January 25, 2018
October 15, 2024
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